Boy in recovery after nearly drowning off N. Topsail

Mateo Lem, 3, of Rocky Mount recovers at New Hanover Regional Medical Center on Sunday, preparing for a bath and possibly a milkshake, after he nearly drowned in the ocean off North Topsail Beach last week.

Submitted Photo / The Daily News

By Christopher Thomas Christopher.Thomas@JDNews.com

Published: Monday, August 18, 2014 at 12:00 PM.

He wanted apple juice and a strawberry milkshake.

Those were a boy’s first requests after he almost drowned in the ocean off North Topsail Beach last week.

According to that town’s officials, emergency workers responded to a water-rescue call near Beach Access 4 on New River Inlet Road about 1:50 p.m. Thursday. The call involved 3-year-old Mateo Lem of Rocky Mount.

His mother, Jen Lem, said her friends and two sons, Mateo and 10-month-old Milo, were at the beach. Lem said she was tending to Milo before looking up and seeing her older son no longer was nearby.

She said the they were in the water at a depth that reached Mateo’s ankles. She immediately began searching for the child.

Lem recalled that she needed a miracle, which she said appeared as a glimmer in the sea.

“You could tell there was something there,” Lem said. “It looked like debris, but it was the only hope that we had.”

She and a friend, Ashley Drummond, swam out toward the glimmer, not knowing whether it was her son. Lem said Drummond was closer and she continued to swim toward it.

It was Mateo, she said.

Lem went back to shore to look for help. Eventually, several bystanders went out to Drummond and Mateo and brought him back to shore using a surfboard.

Lem said a nurse visiting the beach administered CPR to the boy before he was transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Lou Lem, Mateo’s father, said he was in the Outer Banks on business when he heard about the emergency. He said the 5-hour drive carried him through the entire emotional spectrum.

Lou Lem said he arrived at the hospital that evening and for the next day-and-a-half, things were not looking good for his son. He said pictures of his son’s lungs were black — a sign they had filled with fluid — and Mateo’s heart rate continued dropping to the point where medical attendants kept watch over him ensure the boy’s pulse stayed steady.

Those were a boy’s first requests after he almost drowned in the ocean off North Topsail Beach last week.

According to that town’s officials, emergency workers responded to a water-rescue call near Beach Access 4 on New River Inlet Road about 1:50 p.m. Thursday. The call involved 3-year-old Mateo Lem of Rocky Mount.

His mother, Jen Lem, said her friends and two sons, Mateo and 10-month-old Milo, were at the beach. Lem said she was tending to Milo before looking up and seeing her older son no longer was nearby.

She said the they were in the water at a depth that reached Mateo’s ankles. She immediately began searching for the child.

Lem recalled that she needed a miracle, which she said appeared as a glimmer in the sea.

“You could tell there was something there,” Lem said. “It looked like debris, but it was the only hope that we had.”

She and a friend, Ashley Drummond, swam out toward the glimmer, not knowing whether it was her son. Lem said Drummond was closer and she continued to swim toward it.

It was Mateo, she said.

Lem went back to shore to look for help. Eventually, several bystanders went out to Drummond and Mateo and brought him back to shore using a surfboard.

Lem said a nurse visiting the beach administered CPR to the boy before he was transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Lou Lem, Mateo’s father, said he was in the Outer Banks on business when he heard about the emergency. He said the 5-hour drive carried him through the entire emotional spectrum.

Lou Lem said he arrived at the hospital that evening and for the next day-and-a-half, things were not looking good for his son. He said pictures of his son’s lungs were black — a sign they had filled with fluid — and Mateo’s heart rate continued dropping to the point where medical attendants kept watch over him ensure the boy’s pulse stayed steady.